Page 56 of Surviving Enchantment: Part two
“She knew what I would think when I saw the earrings.”
“Well, how long had it been since you saw her?”
“Six weeks?Well, I also saw her last night, but she didn’t have the jewellery then.”
Nylora asked as they walked.“Is it such a big deal?I have piercings all over, and it isn’t a big deal.”
“The northern wastes have limited resources.Everything you have, everything you wear, means something.”
Nylora paused while she was squeezed.When it was over, she said, “Fine, but she’s been banished from those traditions.She isn’t allowed to follow them, and no one who does is allowed to seek her as a partner.So, you are giving mixed messages.”
He sighed.“Yeah.I am understanding that particular thing.I didn’t mean to call her that.It just came out.”
Nylora filled with dread.“What?”
Solor said, “He called her a whore who betrayed her people.Her face just went blank.”
“Oh.Wow.Emmers, you have a lot of begging to do.”
“I know.She said if I wanted to know about her, to ask the guys in vice.Normally, that means she was a party girl, but since she is working in evidence, I think I was wrong about that guess.”
He went quiet as they got into his huge vehicle.Nylora was carefully tucked into the back, and a quiet text to her niece reaped a lot of information.
She felt another squeeze and then asked, “Emmers, do you know what a bait human is?”
They wobbled, but he straightened the car.“Yes.The vice department uses them to get predators in a controlled environment.Why?”
“Amy was bait for two years, and then the wave struck, and she entered the administration to get out of the public eye.There were a lot of scum bags who knew what she looked like, but then the wave turned her hair from blonde to silver and her eyes went from hazel to ice blue.Fresh start, but now she looked like her family members, so that was ironic.Emily says she didn’t go back because she couldn’t.Apparently, it is a one-and-done sort of situation.She couldn’t go back if she wanted to.”
Emmers asked, “Where did you learn that?”
“Emily.She’s one of Amy’s neighbours.Amy is babysitting for Iris if you are curious.Jerrik and she are having an outdoor movie night, projecting cartoons against the back of the house.”
“I don’t think I will be welcome.”
Demuel said, “If you are waiting to be welcome, you should go back to the party and go back to that young lady.”
He sighed.“I was doing that for my ego.”
Everyone in the car said, “We know.”
Nylora clung to Solor’s hand while Dia made sure she was comfortable, and Kaitha checked on her stats and kept them recorded for the medical staff of the hospital.Nylora was being watched like a hawk, and it was thirty hours into her active labour with very little progress.
Kaitha said, “We might need to consider a C-section.”
Nylora groaned.“No.It got in this way, and it’s getting out this way.My body is holding on; I can feel it.”
There was a knock at the door, and Dia went and answered it.She came back looking wary.“Uh, Nylora, there is someone here to talk to you.”
“Sure.I am not doing anything else.Send them in.”
A woman came in, looking entirely human.“Hello, Nylora.I am here to help.Your elder sister contacted me when she learned about you seeking outside energies.You are missing some of the genome, so I have come to offer my blood to assist.”
Nylora looked at her.“I don’t think you are in the right place.”
The woman flashed to navy blue with stars moving under her skin.“Is this better?”
She lifted a hand, and everyone froze.Everyone by Nylora.
